Streaming Lets Us Stay Together While Apart

Online Collaboration: More Accessible Than Ever

As we pass one year since Michigan first enacted the state of emergency, leading to a drastic change in most of our personal and professional lives, how we socialize has evolved. I wonder if these changes will only last as long as the pandemic or if they will cause a long-term shift in how we operate.

Most of us in business were already familiar with Zoom and Teams, but between jobs and schools, COVID-19 has led to a large increase in users for all collaborative software. Those who don’t use it at least know it’s an option now.

The area that has been most intriguing to me and may actually lead to some positive changes is collaborative streaming.

Keeping The Party At Home With Streaming

To me, collaborative streaming is a benefit because so much of what we do has become isolated. We communicate by text, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and we do it from our couch. Appointment TV viewing is no longer a thing. Your whole house can watch a show and all do it at a different time. With all the time on the phone, almost none of it is spent talking.

I am guilty of all of this, but I have noticed that I have become more social in these isolated settings in the last year. I still play games on my phone, but I talk to the others playing, which I never did before. The lack of socialization has been missed. I imagine that the students home-learning are affected by this to a larger extent.

Streaming is where I think this socialization may become a more permanent change – and one that is positive. Netflix, Amazon, and Disney Plus all have party features which allow you to stream content together. My kids have used these features to watch shows with their friends. During quarantine, it’s been great to have a movie night while not violating any orders.

While I am confident things will eventually get back to normal, streaming remotely together is one change I would like to see stay around. Watching a show with a friend in another state, catching up on shows with family in different households, or having a get-together during a major snow storm – all without leaving the house – is something we can all get behind.

(Image Source: iCLIPART)